raincoats for penguins

I found a swan planter at my local thrift store. It was $2.50 AU. I like a bit of kitsch, a fun little ceramic to add to my vintage inventory.

In another thrift store, on another random day, I found another little swan. A few weeks later I found another planter on Facebook Marketplace. I travelled an hour to get it and I bought it.

I then began to wonder…

What the hell have I become?

I’m an adult who likes swan planters?

Correction. I’m an adult who deliberately went out of her way to add another swan planter to her rather random collection of… things.

Upon reflection I realise this niche interest was an inevitable fate, a destiny I didn’t plan but should have predicted.

This planter looks exactly like a 1920’s Czechoslovakian planter but it has no markings and no paint on the glaze. Even if it’s a 70’s knock off, the detail from the cast is beautiful

No identifiable markers. Looks like an imitation Coronet Swan Planter, Hull Pottery, Mid Century. It fits in the palm of your hand. Definitely need to research ceramic copyright moulds from 1970’s/80’s

Mid Century White Ceramic Lusterware, marked; Suluvan & Griffiths, 88 Foley St, Sydney / Distributors for Australian Pottery

No identifiable markers… Post 80’s/90’s? Need to do more research

My grandmother had a very signature homestyle decor. Imagine a 1970’s two level brick unit complex, 100 metres next to an Australian beach called Mermaid, which really is as beautiful as it sounds.

Now imagine that little unit decked out in champagne coloured carpet, flocked striped wallpaper in ochre gold and cream, velvet upholstered furniture perfectly situated next to a marble coffee table with cabriole legs in brass.

And I will never forget her light fixtures; wall sconces with amber fabric shades, a ceiling chandelier lined with faux crystals. My grandparents had glass shelves in their living room filled with handmade ceramics; vases, busts, statues and figurines in corsets and kimonos.

My grandmother loved making these ceramics. In her retirement she cast, fired and painted hundreds of ceramics. Even the bathroom had an Avon inspired hand ceramic jewellery holder, shell soap dish, swans, swans, swans.

I did have a favourite ceramic though. It was a little lidded trinket dish that had a permanent home on an ornamental side table next to the TV remote control. Inside was a tiny pair of gold tweezers. They were too flimsy to be functional (I tried). They were merely decorative.

I recently discovered this style was a recognisable genre. It has a few names; Hollywood Regency, Renaissance Revival, Neo-Rococo. When I was a child I thought it was a thoroughly romantic way to live even though it didn’t feel… real.

You see I come from the opposite end of this home decor trend. My parents loved Mid Century Modern. Meaning, they attempted to create a functional, purposeful home environment that embraced natural materials, organic/brutalist forms, an aesthetic that focused on the future, not the past.

And in my heart of hearts, I love both.

Thus creating a wide dichotomy of visual appreciation which meant that I was a very messy teenager, a maximalist with a visual expectation for a simplicity I just couldn’t keep.

Sigh. And woe was me, for alas, I didn’t know I was a dramatic mid century modernist with a penchant for treasure hunting, object collection and historical appreciation. I didn’t know I was a little like my grandmother, someone who cared about swan planters.

But I know now. And well, I really like it.